Spotlight Review

Who knew all it would take to bring down a conspiracy was the Hulk and Batman teaming up. This is going to be my only joke about this movie because Spotlight takes a look at a subject matter that is very serious to a lot of people. The movie is about reporters uncovering a conspiracy that involves catholic priests sexually molesting children. It is a touch subject matter that is hard to watch, especially those who may consider themselves to be members of the catholic church. It shows men who have sexually assaulted many children not going to jail and simply being put on probation simply because no one wants to face the wrath of the catholic church.

We see how the actions of the priests affected the children as we meet those who have been haunted by it since it happened. One victim's story is horrifying in particular as not only he was being molested by his priest but also dealing with homosexuality. Imagine being that child, going through such a weird time in your life and having your first homosexual experience be by molestation by someone you trust, it's just sickening.


The catholic church come off as the mafia as they are burying secrets and making sure no one is to be told about the multiple priests. This is why I say the movie is not for all people. This kind of stuff can destroy a persons faith. For something most people consider to be a large part of their life and to be told that followers of that are doing something so sickening like molesting children and getting away with it can make someone re evaluate their beliefs. And all of this coming after the September 11th attacks. At a time when people needed faith the most, too hear that priests were molesting children was something the world and especially America was not ready to face. But with the victims of these priests suffering for as long as they have been, their stories needed to be heard and unfortunately it came during a time when faith in a higher power was what most Americans were looking for.

It should be stated that the reporters in this are not god hating atheists, but reporters who came across something huge. Most of the reporters were active in their churches but stopped because of work. There is an absolutely great scene with Mark Ruffalo and Rachel McAdams as they talk about their childhood and how they see the church in a different way because of their reporting. You get to see these reporters, who grew up in a catholic environment, discover something that has been going on under their noses and how they react to it. John Slattery's character finds out that one the homes in his neighborhood is for recovering priests and immediately warns his children about it and loses sleep knowing that only a few feet from his house are the very people he is reporting on. It's just a chilling thing to know.

Spotlight not only shows us how a large conspiracy like this can affect everyone involved but shows that ignorance is a double-edged sword. Having to much of it is what caused the discovery of the priests to take so long and too little of it can haunt you for days on end. Everyone involved gives an Academy Award performance. If this comes back into theaters around award season, I would highly give it a look.

Grade: A+